Author: David Theriault

David Theriault has always considered himself a nerd and has always been a lover of video games, comic books, tabletop games, movies, cosplay, and just about anything under the nerd culture umbrella. With this nerd pride and a degree in Creative Writing, he writes the column known as Nerd Scene for which he covers comic shops, gaming stores, local conventions, and just about any other geeky venue or event throughout WNY. Outside of Buffalo Rising, David also writes a nerd culture blog at www.nonstopnerd.com and is currently working on his first novel.

Lil-Con is one of the many gaming and anime conventions in Western New York. It is an annual event that features countless video games and board games to play, exciting activities like gaming tournaments and a cosplay contest, and interesting panels. One of the major differences from other conventions, however, is its size. Lil-Con is, well, little. It’s easily one of the smallest conventions one could attend. Despite its small size, Lil-Con has big heart. The sixth Lil-Con just passed on September 28th and 29th, and it was a blast. Inside the American Legion in North Tonawanda were convention-goers gaming,…

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Comic books are a creative medium that allow the artist to showcase vivid visuals while also telling a story. It’s an expressive art form that can be difficult to create, and yet Buffalo’s own Kevin Delgado accomplishes this feat. Kevin Delgado is a local independent comic book creator who illustrates prints, and designs graphic novels. His primary work is on his self-created graphic novel series, ​Volantis​, which he illustrates and co-writes. He also has his own publishing outlet known as Solstice Art. I had the pleasure of sitting down with Kevin to discuss his journey as an independent artist. How…

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Western New York’s own tabletop gaming convention, Queen City Conquest, was the place to be last weekend for lovers of board games, card games, and role-playing games. The convention, held by Lake Effect Gaming, took place at a brand new location this year. Gamers gathered at Daemen College July 12th to July 14th to roll dice, shuffle cards, and complete quests. The setting is far from the only major change at the convention. On both Friday and Saturday night, attendees were able to stay until 2:00 a.m. for some late night gaming. If you’re someone who would enjoy staying up…

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Have you read each of the Harry Potter books and seen every movie several times? Are you still waiting on your Hogwarts acceptance letter? Are you a muggle who has yet to experience much of Harry Potter but are looking to get into the Wizarding World more? Then there’s an upcoming celebration just for you. The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library invites you to Harry Potter Day! This magical event will be held on Saturday, June 22nd from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the downtown Central Library located at 1 Lafayette Square, Buffalo, NY. There will be many…

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There are several different conventions in Western New York. The biggest, however, is Nickel City Con. Nickel City Con is an annual weekend-long event honoring the biggest and best in pop culture, including movies, television, comic books, and video games. This major event took place this past weekend from May 17th to May 19th. Cosplayers, gamers, and geeks of all kind gathered to celebrate what they love. There was a lot of excitement going on throughout the weekend. Big-name celebrity guests were in attendance so that convention-goers could meet their idols for pictures and autographs. Stars such as Marky Ramone…

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The Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural Site, located at the Wilcox House where Roosevelt was sworn in as President in 1901, holds Vintage Game Nights the fifth Tuesday of every month that has five Tuesdays. The most recent one was April 30th, and their next is July 30th. These Vintage Game Nights feature a huge variety of games to choose from, including board, card, and parlor games from the late 1800s and early 1900s. Being able to play these sorts of games is a tremendous opportunity. Some of these games were played by Theodore Roosevelt and members of the Wilcox family, and…

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Avengers: Endgame​ has finally hit theaters, and it is as huge as expected. It’s easily one of the biggest events in movie history. The North Park Theatre is having a very special event for the occasion. Buffalo’s own Christopher Markus, who also happened to co-write the film along with the​ Captain America​ movies,​ Thor: The Dark World,​ and more, will be coming home to give a Q&A at North Park before and after the screening of the movie. As stated in my previous article, this special event will be Friday, May 3rd at 8:00 PM. Before Chris’s homecoming to Buffalo,…

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On Friday, May 3rd, the North Park Theatre will be hosting one of the most successful screenwriters in Hollywood, North Buffalo native Christopher Markus, for an in-person Q&A. Immediately following this rare Q&A experience will be a screening of his latest film – ​Avengers: Endgame,​ with an opportunity to ask him more questions after the viewing. Along with his writing partner, Stephen McFeely, Chris has written several other Marvel hits such as each of the​ Captain America​movies,​ Thor: The Dark World​, and A​vengers: Infinity War​, which has become one of the biggest box office successes of all time. The writing…

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Iron Buffalo, the shop that takes coffee, comic books, and gaming, and blends them together to create one of the most unique businesses in WNY, opened its doors in October of 2018. They hit the scene hard with a huge grand opening, which I covered on here. When I wrote that initial article, Iron Buffalo was still very new. They were still getting their product in and finding their footing within the community. Because of this, I promised an update on the shop’s growth. Now that it’s been over six months since Iron Buffalo has opened, there have been some…

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Graham Nolan is a comic book artist who resides in East Aurora, New York. He has worked with DC and Marvel, including a 6-year run illustrating Batman comics. You might know him as the co-creator of the iconic Batman villain Bane. Currently, he has been freelancing on comic book and creator-owned projects, as well as working on his humor comic strip, ​Sunshine State​. Graham has a new comic in the works that is in the crowdfunding stage. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/55409237/batman-artist-graham-nolans-return-to-monster-isla His new project, ​Return to Monster Island​, is currently on Kickstarter. ​Return to Monster Island​ is a sequel to his brainchild from…

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